KulasekharA's Paasurams on the VitthuvakkOttu AmmAn: Part 3

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Sixth Paasuram:The Lotus Flower & the Sun

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In this paasuram , AzhwAr compares his relationship

to the Lord as similar to the one between the red lotus

and the Suryan that makes it blossom in the morning .

The lotus flower can only react to the rays of the Sun

to blossom . If one brings a red hot ember and brings it

close to the closed lotus flower , it wont respond .

When the mighty Sun is there , the lotus does not

seek the help of the puny warmth of the tiny flame from

the red hot ember . Azhwar states in the context that

he will not seek the help of chillarai daivams ,

when the Lord of VitthuvakkOdu is standing there

fully eager as Visva paripAlanan and Jagath Rakshakan

to come to his rescue .Swami Desikan echos

the sentiment of KulasekharA in his dilaog with

Lord VaradarAjA of Kanchipuram :

 

kim vaa kareesa mayi rakshaNeeyE

dharmAdhi bAhya sahakAri gavashaNEna I

nanvasthi visvaparipAlana jAgarUka:

sankalpa yeva bhavathO nipuNa:sahAya: II

 

Seventh Paasuram: The Crops and the rain clouds

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AzhwAr compares himself to the crops ( paimkoozhkaL),

that wait pateiently for the nourishing rain-bearing

clouds ( maitthezhundha Maamuhil) . He says that he

will longingly wait for the shower of grace of the Lord

and think of him with great affection ( chittam miha

unn paal vaippEn adiyEnE ) .

 

In a Daya sathaka slOkam , Swami Desikan evokes

the mood of the crops , which are waiting to be

nourished by the life-giving down pour of Daya Devi ,

who incorporates the auspicious kalyANa guNAs--

Vaatsalyam , Souseelyam , Soulabhyam and

aasrtitha rakshaNam -- of ThiruvenkatamudayAn .

Daya Devi soaks the suffering people with her cool

and nourishing showers in a timely manner and

protects the bhakthAs as visualized by Swami Desikan :

 

sAram labdhvA kamapi mahatha: SrinivAsAmbhurAsE :

kAlE kAlE ghana rasavathee KaaLikEvAnukampE I

vyakthOnmEshA mrugapathi girou visvamApyAyanthee

seelOpagyam ksharathi bhavathee seethaLam sadhguNaougam II

 

SrinivAsa AmbhurAsi ( the vast Ocean named SrinivAsA)

is the source of the power of

the life-giving down pour of rains originating

from the dark Cloud of DayA Devi that cool

the world ( visvam aapyAyanthee) and creates

the invigorating seasonal floods made up

of the streams of the auspicious attributes

of the Lord of seven hills ( kaalE kaalE

seela upagyam , seethaLam sadh guNa Ogam ksharathi).

VitthuvakkOttu AmmAn is the same as " SrinivAsa

dayAmbhOdhi pareevAha ParamparA ".

 

Eighth Paasuram : Flow of the river of Daya

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Fascinated by the thought of the cool rains joining

together into small streams and then becoming a mighty

river that vends its way to the vast ocean , AzhwAr

revels over the thought of the auspicious guNAs

of the Lord rescuing him from the heat of SamsAram .

He says : " VitthuvakkOttammA ! unn pukkilangu

seer allAl pukkhilan kANN " . The waters that descended

from the rainy season clouds fall on the hill ,

form tributaries , blend together down stream and

head towards the Ocean , the very souece of that rain

carried by the clouds .Whichever turn and twist

the rivers take , they end up finally in the ocean

and nowhere else .AzhwAr points out that a similar

situation exists for him . Like the flowing rivers

heading to the source , the Sea , Azhwar says that

the KalyANa guNAs of the Lord flow in His mind

and end up travelling to the Lord without any

distraction or deviation .

 

The seventh and the eighth paasurams

realte to the subject of the nourishing

rain ( The Lord's DayA )that reaches us thru AchAryAs .

AchAryAs in their infinite compassion for us

absorb the essence of BhagavAn's dayA ( Saaram LabdhvA ).

EmperumAn is the vast assembly of water (Ocean ) ;

NammAzhwAr is the cloud , which drank deep and held

the water of DayA from that ocean. He showered those

waters on the mountain known as Naatha Muni and generated

the bhakthi pareevAham ( floods of Bhakthi ) .Those

floods broke up into two streams named uyyakkondAr

and MaNakkAl nampi . Those two streams merged with

the river named ALavanthAr . That river entered

the lotus pond known as RaamAnujA .The waters of that

never-drying pond flow into the fields and nourish them

to maintain life . Sri Rama DesikAchAr visulaizes

the tradition nurtured by NammAzhwAr , KulasEkharar

and through them to the present day AchAryAs ,

when he comments on the meaning of " Saaram LabdhvA ".

This is the same" SrinivAsa DayAmbhodhi pareevAha

paramparA " that KulasEkharA invoked both at

VitthuvakkOdu and on top of the seven hills .

 

Ninth Paasuram : Abject surrender at the Lord's sacred feet

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Here AzhwAr declares that He will continue to

think of the Lord ceaselessly , even if the Lord

in His sport as MaayAvi discards him . He says :

Oh Lord adorning the Sudarsanam shining like a bolt

of lightning in Your hand! Through Your MayA ,

I will ask for the strength to discard the temptations of

material wealth and seek You instead as my permanent wealth .

Some times Your MayA will tempt me to think about

perishable wealth . I am determined with Your grace

to escape that temptation and seek You and You alone

as the central goal and purpose of my life ".

 

In eight of his Paasurams on the Lord of this

divya Desam , AzhwAr addresses the Lord as

"AmmA , VitthuvakkOttu AmmA " . The reason perhaps is

that he visualized the incomparable karuNA ( DayA )

of the Lord as a piraatti named DayA Devi .He

stood at the feet of the Daya Devi of "Uyya Vantha

PerumAL " of VitthuvakkOdu and inspired later

Swami Desikan to invoke the blessings of the DayA Devi

of the Lord of Seven Hills . One can hear the resounding

echos of Swami Desikan's appeals to the Daya Devi

of Lord SrinivAsA in the following passages of

the magnificient prayers housed in DayA Sathakam :

 

** svayam na: nijAbhiprEtham pradhiSasi

 

** jagat dhrushtyA hithamithi klupthai:

akluptha palAntharai: amathi vihithai:

yadhrucchayA dharmAyithai: anyaisccha

 

** tvayA yeva tvayi nyastha svarakshaNa

bharam maam tvAm nAthE nivEsaya

 

These statements of Swami Desikan tie in with

the ananyArha SaraNAgathi ( NinnayE taan vEndi )

of KulasEkharA in his VithuvakkOdu Paasurams .

 

The essence of AzhwAr's upadEsam is that those

who understand the linitless power of the DayA

of the Lord and perform Prapatthi to Him with

MahA VisvAsam in Him as the one and only protector

will not fall into Narakam , but will end up

in Sri Vaikuntam as a result of MokshAnugraham

granted by the Lord .

 

Tenth Pala Sruthi Paasuram

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Here , the AzhwAr reminds once again the Lord

of VitthuvakkOdu that he will cling to His sacred

feet even if He ( the Lord) tries to extricate Himself

from his hold (nee vEndAyEyAdinum maRRArum paRRilEn ) .

He tells us that those , who recite these

ten verses dealing with his SaraNAgathi

to the Lord at this divya desam will never ever

land in narakam ( NaRRamizh patthum vallAR

naNNAr narakamE ) .

 

May we travel in the path laid out for us

clearly by KulasEkhara AzhwAr and the AchAryAs

that followed him ! namO nArAyaNA !

 

KulasEkhara PerumAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan